All my life, my name has been Abby. Not Abigail, just Abby. And up until about ten years ago, this was a pretty uncommon name. In my high school (3200+ students), there was only me and one other Abby. Which I secretly liked, by the way.
Used to be, whenever I’d say my name over the phone, I’d have to repeat it several times and eventually spell it slowly for whoever was on the other end. So I started saying, “You know, like Dear Abby,” and then the light bulb would go on for them, and we could continue with whatever the phone call was actually about.
Well, a while back, I called a restaurant to order some take-out wings. A young girl answered the phone. When I told her my name, she asked me to repeat it, to which I replied, “Abby. You know, like Dear Abby.”
There was a long pause and then, “Um, who?”
My thought? Holy crap. I’m officially old.
Okay, so the point isn’t that I’m getting old. Even though I’ll be thirty-four one month from today. Ick.
This got me thinking about the language I use in my story. I could go out and research all the slang that’s popular today. Urbandictionary.com would be a great resource. ;) Take those and pack them into my story with a bunch of pop culture references, and I should be totally hip with all the teens, right?
Maybe not. Trendy language has never been my thing, even when I was a teen. And if I could somehow pull it off, it would be totally outdated in a few years, which, to me, is pointless to write. I think it’s very possible to pull off a strong teen voice without it, maybe even stronger (and less annoying) than if I included a bunch of slang.
So what to do you all think? Does trendy language have a place in modern literature? Do you think slang is necessary to create a strong teen voice in YA literature?
I understand on the name thing. Roni isn't short for anything either, but most people assume my name's Veronica.
ReplyDeleteAs for slang, I think some author's use it well in YA and others do fine not using it at all. When I wrote my YA, I used some, but not as a purposeful thing. Even though I'm 30, I still watch a lot of teen shows/movies and my music tastes are pretty young (I think I was the oldest person who didn't bring a kid to the last All American Rejects concert I went to, lol), so I pick up some of the language that way. I think it's important to write what you feel comes most natural.
Wow, that means I'm old, too because I'm 31! Yikes! I teach teens flute lessons, so I can pick up some lingo from them, but Roni's right, watching young TV shows would help a lot.
ReplyDeleteSlang can date writing and lead to a short shelf life. In my opinion, it's more important to get the emotional life, the turmoil, excitement, etc. that all teens of any era experience. And the voice shouldn't sound old--too wise and using language associated with another generation unless it's historical fiction. That said, I know there are popular books out there filled with slang, so there is an audience.
ReplyDeleteSlang is difficult. Because it's fluid, what sounds right when you write the first draft may be on its way out when the book is published. I agree with Trisha that hitting the emotions right is the key. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI've heard that you shouldn't use slang because it comes and goes so quickly. It will only make your book out of style in a few years. I avoid it.
ReplyDeleteI'm 'just Abby,' too. Not Abigail. Abby. Such a simple name, right? But somehow it was always misheard as Addie or Ivey (?!) or teachers took it upon themselves to call me Abigail. I never knew anyone else named Abby (or Abigail) growing up, but now every other little girl I meet is an Abby or Abbie or Abbey. There's even a Sesame Street character named Abby Cadabby. Strangely, though, from the time I was a child I have met 10 or more dogs named Abby. Seriously. A weird phenom, our name is.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, I don't use trendy teen slang. Some teen slang is here to stay, such as 'like,' 'um,' 'you know,' etc., but you have to be careful with those words or else you end up with a caricature instead of a character. I am also careful about what references to time I include in my ms. I think you have to make the conscious decision to either not care if the details you include dates your ms (in fact, if you do this, I think you must embrace it and treat the novel as a study of that time period as much as a vehicle to tell your story) or you should be mindful of the details that may date your work. Either can be done well, I think.
I recently read a book called LIFE, AFTER that is set is '02-'03. The narrator mentions this cool new thing called a 'social networking site,' Friendster. Sure, this dates the book, but because the events of the story are directly tied to the Argentine economic crisis ('99-'02) and 9/11, this creates a sense of life during that time and makes it feel more authentic.
I think that getting across they manner in which the characters speech, their cadence and word choices, is more important than slang, but some of the slang that I used as a kid is still pretty popular.
ReplyDelete"Stop trying to make "fetch" happen!"
Love that scene from mean Girls. ;)
I think it depends on the words you're using. Some of the slang that's still in use today has been around forever. And some of it comes and goes. I teach high school and hear it all the time, so I think you might have to use some, depending on your character.
ReplyDeleteUrban Dictionary is one of my all-time great time-wasters. I can spend hours on that sucker. But then, I'm not good at slang, which is why I don't try to write YA. By the time I (who am REALLY, bona fide old at 40) hear a slang expression, it's pretty well moved out of the lexicons of the young and frisky set. :-)
ReplyDeleteBtw, the word verification is "puthed." Now if that doesn't sound like something that would be in Urban Dictionary, I don't know what would! :-)
I think some slang is okay. I mean, what kid doesn't use it?? As long as you save it mostly for dialogue, I think it's fine. Hate for conversations to sound unnatural.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that I think you need slang. I suppose it depends on the story but I've read many without it and didn't feel like it left things off kilter. Of course, I'm not a teen anymore. =P
ReplyDeleteHunh - I never thought of Abby as an uncommon name. It's actually quite popular in the UK.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that you shouldn't use slang in YA, since it might sound like you're trying too hard to be cool - and it can date quickly. But perhaps that's just one opinion!
Language dates it is true and the technology more than that. Anyone read Twilight and laughed when Bella describes listening to her little CD player at bedtime?
ReplyDelete(pg 112 research is key)
If you are still using "exactly" as in "not exactly" - too old, now.
I personally like classic prose that will stand the test of time, so trendy phrases and such don't appeal to me. Still, it's fun to read books from the 80's and see what was popular back then. It might make scenes comical, though, that weren't intended to be comical.
ReplyDeleteLike with brand names and technologies, using slang can quickly make your book passe and out-of-date. I think that giving a strong voice without using slang (or crafting some sort of internal slang that seems to follow conventions of real-world slang) can make a book stronger and more likely to endure.
ReplyDeleteThirty-four is not old! That would make me super-old. :( I've never used slang, and I think it's kind of annoying to read. Take me, I'm (way older than thirty-four) and I love YA, but I probably wouldn't understand the latest teen slang.
ReplyDeleteOld, you're kidding, right?
ReplyDeleteI've gone the rounds on this myself. I finally decided to use slang sparingly and my editor seems happy. :)